JB Shorts is like a tasting menu in a restaurant, a selection of six individual samples of theatrical creations to whet your appetite, and at fifteen minutes each, they must step up to the challenge of getting straight to the point and being…Short! I am sure that these plays will lead to many conversations in the 53Two bar later, trying to agree which ones in your opinion should be taken to be further developed into a full-length play.
The JB Shorts tradition began in 2009, when Trevor Suthers and John Chambers put their heads together to develop a festival of short plays written by established writers. It offers a place for writers to try out new work, and it now attracts many guest writers. Since 2016, this event’s home has been 53Two, the warm and friendly theatre in Manchester who welcome everyone who walks through their doors.
Death On The Crock, written by Peter Kerry a founder member of JB Shorts kicked us off and we are quick to sample an amuse-bouche of comedy writing. Crock O’Doyle (Patrick O’Donnell) is an Irish character in a book series called ‘The Crock O’Doyle Mystery Series’ written by Siobhan O’Callaghan (Sue Ryding) or in reality Jenni. The writer has grown to dislike her creation, and now wishes to move on from writing about him, but how can she go about this? This is a fast-paced comedy play with slap-stick humour with an interesting storyline which could be expanded further to create a much longer version of the play. A look at what motivates a writer, written by a writer, is an interesting concept, and the addition of the very funny humour made this a very good opening choice for the evening.
As the name may suggest, A Viewing written by Trevor Suthers, is centred around the viewing of a house by a couple Aiden (Liam Grunshaw) and Barbara (Jill Myers), and the estate agent Caroline (Aalia Zorko) is keen to point out all the remarkable features of the property. A comedy, with subtle humour that relies on the imagination of the audience to explore the subtext. It did feel lighter in plot than the previous play, and I wonder if this may struggle to be expanded further but it was an amusing bitesize, well-written piece, and we were left wondering – why?
At some point AI had to creep in somewhere, it is a hot topic and seems to be creeping into every part of our lives. Written by Lindsay Williams, Intelligence turned the clock back to examine how artificial intelligence was born. Of course, Elon Musk featured as the Investor (Sean Ollier), and the original ideas to create an entity that could help to eradicate diseases and cancer, soon became far less important than how much money they can make. Even though this play is an interesting concept, it feels like it would need work to bring this to a level of being ready to expand into a full-length play. Even though there were funny moments, it did not really feel like it knew whether it wished to be a comedy or a documentary. It was full of interesting ideas, but having an on-point topic is not enough alone, and this feels like it is not quite there yet.
Even Higher Definition is a dig at the smartphone generation who cannot go anywhere without taking photos and sharing them on social media. Writer and performer James Quinn handles this well, with his character standing on his soapbox preaching to his wife Meg (Wendy Patterson), and then realises that he has double standards when he is interested in a football match. Many audience members would no doubt recognise themselves here in one of the characters, it was written with down-to-earth humour, but also sent a message to ‘have the experience’, rather than to skim past it.
Book Boyfriend was the perfect snapshot of well-written, funny writing looking at relationships, reading books, and those private moments that we all need to do our own thing. Written by Lisa Holdsworth, Hannah (Amanda Henderson) snatches a moment sometimes to listen to an audiobook whilst doing household chores, and her chosen books to listen to often have a rather saucy theme with a raunchy leading man. How does her partner Paul (Samuel Holland) react when he finds out that Hannah has a ‘book boyfriend’? This was very well-written and so funny! More please…!
The final offering The Great Escape is written by Diane Whitely and Dave Simpson, and is set in a nursing home with two elderly gentlemen Joe (Dave Dutton) and Sid (Leslie Davidoff) coming to terms with the different health issues, but supporting each other as long-term friends. Trying to stop their fun is care-assistant Hilary (Ellie Winkworth) who attempts to clip their wings when they plan their escape. Very funny ‘Last of the Summer Wine’ vibes, make this an enjoyable way to round off a wonderful evening.
The programming is varied enough to make each play distinct for audience enjoyment, and the standard of writing is definitely top class, but I am sure that everyone will have their favourites. Some plays were better equipped than others to be developed further, but I would be interested to see anything that comes from this menu of theatre.
Do go along to see which ‘JB Shorts 28’ plays are your favourites. To book tickets to go the 53Two website at – https://53two.online/show/jb-shorts-28. Running until the 7th November 2026.
Reviewer: Caroline Worswick
Reviewed: 29th October 2026
Theatre Muse UK Rating: ****
